Static neutralizer for printing presses



1 619,968 March 8 1927' w. M. CARMICHAEL STATIC NEUTRALIZER FOR PRINTINGPRESSES Filed 001:. 20, 1923 Patented Mar. 8, 1927.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM H. GARHICHAEL, orh'rnmra, GEORQIA.

STATIC NEUTRALIZER FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

Application filed October 20, 1823. Serial No. 668,849.

The invention has reference to the art of printing and is particularlydirected to the employment of a novel method of drying sheets andneutralizing the "static electrlcity incident to the delivery of thesheets from the press following the printin operation.

In present practice, the prevai ing method is to heat the printed sheetafter it leaves the printing cylinder and while it is being delivered tothe delivery table. It is common to employ for this purpose, a gasburner placed at some point in the path of the paper between theprinting cyllnder and the delivery table so that the printed sheet isheated from the underside as it passes above the flames. The use ofthese burners is, however, attended with great difiiculties owing to thenecessity of constant watchfulness due to the liability and danger offire during the delivery of the sheets or as occasioned by frequentstoppage of the press. The former method is more or less limited in itsapplication, being confined for the most art to press using the sloweror printed-si e-up delivery, and pre-. sents certain other disadvantageswhich it is the object of this invention toovercome.

To that end, the invention consists essentially in the provision ofaheater so disposed as to heat the sheet to be printed while it ispositioned around the cylinder rather than while it is be ng deliveredupon the delivery table; the heater being arran ed for this purpose atthe front of the rinting cylinder and in such proximity thereto as tomost efi'ectively heat both the cylinder and the sheet wrapped aroundthe same, for the accompl shments of results conducive to more eflicientand better printing.

Among the important and principal objccts and advantages of theinvention are: First, the heating of sheet and cylinder sufliciently tokeep ink from picking and to remove static electricity from the aper;second, it decreases the danger of re and enables the use of a hotterflame; third, it provides for a quick partial drying of the ink andprevents ofisetfiourth, enables the flame to act upon the printed sideof the sheet rather than the non-printed side; fifth, warms the cylinderfor better printing, and sixth, enables the use of fly delivery insteadof printed-side-up delivery, with a resultant increase in the outputcapacity of the press.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following description read in comiection with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section of a cylinder printing press,as viewed from the rear of the printing cylinder, and showingztheinvention applied thereto.

igure 2 is a view of the press in side elevation, showing the burnervalve and controlling levers, and

Figure 3 is a view in perspective of the invention showing the variousparts detached from the press but assembled in operative relation.

In the drawings 10 designates a conventional cylinder press having afeed table 11, cylinder 12, and delivery table 13 to which the printedsheets from the cylinder are delivered by the delivery mechanism 14. Theusual operators platform is shown at 15 together with the trip .16 andtrip-rod 17 of the cylinder elevating mechanism common to presses ofthis type.

In applying the invention to the structure described, the burner tube 18is disposed below the feed 11 in close proximity to the rear and underside of the cylinder 12, being thus arranged in close parallel relationto the cylinder instead of between the latter and the delivery table, asis the former practice. Any suitable means may be employed to hold theburner in position, and gas 1s supplied thereto from a convenient sourceby way of a supply pipe 19 connected to the mixing chamber 20 at the endof the burner on the far side of the press. The burner may be of anywell known construction embodying a length of tubing having a series ofopenings or flame jets 21, and a pilot tube 22. The open ngs in theburner of the invention are threaded and screw fillers 23 are providedfor closing certain of the jets and reducing the range of the burnerwhen a form of less than the maximum width is being used.

By arranging the burner tube to the rear of the printing cylinder asillustrated, it will be seen that the paper during the period it issubjected to the action of the flames is wrapped around the cylinder andis, therefore, less susceptible to fire than when subjected to theflames during the process of delivery. Consequently, a hotter flame thanusual can be used for the more effective observed, in this connection,that the printed side of the sheet is exposed to the flames rather thanthe non-printed side as is the case with burners of former construction.The burner thus heats both sheet and cylinder sufficiently to keep inkfrom picking and to neutralize the static electricity of the printedsheets, resulting in better printing and preventing offset or smuttingof the printed sheets when delivered, one upon the other, onto thedelivery table.

Moreover, the burners of former construction arelimited to use with theprintedside-up delivery mechanism inwhich the delivery of the printedsheets is effected by a reciprocating delivery carriage. In suchmechanism, the printed sheets are delivered horizontally, moving in apath above the burner as the carriage transports it from the cylinder tothe delivery table. For use of the fly delivery mechanism, wherein thesheets are delivered by an oscillating fork, these burners have .notheretofore been adopted, due to the different mode of delivering theprinted sheets. Of the two methods, the fiy dellvering is usually thepreferred. presenting certain advantages of operation which renders itsuse most desirable and advantageous. The present invention permitseither type of delivery to be used with the press, and hence enables theuse of the fly instead of the printed-side-up delivery, with aconsequent increase in the output of the press by reason of such use.

To provide for shutting off the gas to the burner when the press is idleor stoppage of the same is occasioned for any purpose, the trip-rod 17has aflixed thereto a collar 24 to which is hingedly connected. as at25, the inner end of a link rod 26 disposed parallel with the floor andhaving its outer end connected, as at 27, to the lower end of avertically extending link rod 28. Pivoted to the side of the press frameis a bell crank lever 29, to one arm of which is connected the upper endof link rod 28. The other arm is connected to one end of thevalve-operating rod 30, which rod is secured at its opposite end to thevalve 31 of the burner. Thus, when the operator depresses the pedal ortrip 16 for elevating the cylinder out. of printing position, whichrocks the trip rod 17 in its bearings. the levers and rods operate tomove the valve to a closed position. so that the gas is shut off fromthe burner. Hence, 'it will be seen that the burner is renderedinoperative automatically with the depression of the trip and the dangerof fire eliminated.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the invention presentscertain advantages over existing devices intended for a similar purposeand embodies a novel application of heat to the cylinder of the press insuch manner as to be productive of the best results, not only with resect to the rapid drying and deliverv of t e printed sheets but also withregard to the improved quality of the printing.

In practice, I have found that the form of m invention illustrated inthe accompanying drawings and referred to in the above description, asthe preferred embodiment, is the most efficient and practical; yetrealizing the conditions concurrent with the adoption of my device willnecessarily vary, I desire to emphasize that various minor changes indetails of construction, proportlon and arrangement of parts, may beresorted to within the scope of the appended claims without departingfrom or sacrificing any of the principles of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, and

without enumerating variations and equivalents, what I desire protectedby Letters Patent is as set forth in the following claims:

1. An ink drier and static neutralizer for cylinder presses comprising agas heater including a burner tube disposed rearwardly of the printingcylinder in close proximity to the lower side thereof, said tube beingco-extensive with the cylinder and present ing a series of openings orflame jets for heating both the cylinder and the sheet carried thereon,and tiller elements engageable in selected openings or jets of the saidtube for limiting the range of the said heater.

2. An ink drier and static neutralizer for cylinder presses comprising agas heater embodying a length of tubing disposed parallel withtheprinting cylinder and in the rear thereof, adjacentthelower portion ofthe cylinder said tubing having aseries of threaded openingsconstituting flame jets,

means for supplying gas to the said tubing, including a gas-shut-otf,and a plurality of screw-fillers engageahle in selected openings of thesaid tubing for decreasing the range of the said heater.

3. In a printing press, a rotatable cylinder for revolving the sheet tobe printed, a heater disposed in proximity to the cylinder for heatingthe cylinder and the. exposed printed side of the sheet wrapped aroundthe cylinder, said heater v be'ng variable in extent to accommodate itto sheets of various widths, means for elevating the said cylinder, andmeans operable automatically from the said cylinder-elevating means forshutting ofi'the said heater contemporane ously with the elevation ofthe said cylinder.

WILLIAM M. CARMICHAEL.

